Another marvelous day of painting in plein air in Scott Burdick's class started out quite different than the previous day. Scott explained that because of the way the light falls in Riomaggiore, he wanted to start later in the day so we wouldn't meet until 11:00.

I slept in until 8:00 and decided to take the train early to explore the town a bit. When I walked out of my room I found that it was cloudy and blustery and cold, so I was very happy that my husband, Gastone, had bought me a nice down vest to take with me. Off I went to explore the new town south of Corniglia. The wind was whipping the seas up and the clouds where scuttling across the sky. It was beautiful! Of the 5 cities in Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore is furthest south. Next north is Manarola and then the town where I was staying, Cornigilia. Next north is Vernazza and then the posh city of Monterosso al Mare is furthest north of the five.

When I got on the train, Scott and Susan were getting off. They were going to walk to Riomaggiore. After my experience the first day, I declined their invitation to go with them. The train ride was short and I immediately met several of my fellow classmates, Pam and Rick, who invited me to breakfast with them. I did. While we enjoyed capuccini, espressi and food, it rained and I doubly thanked myself for not walking over.

However, when I again ran into Scott and Susan they were doing the laundry they had carried over from Cornigilia! The rain hadn't bothered them a bit!

Scott started his class with examples from previous paintings and classes. His focus today was on composition. He said it was important to look for patterns of lights and darks and to find patterns that are interesting. He wanted us to try simple compositions today... not to do huge scenes with lots of things in them.. just paint a boat or some rocks in the water (which is what he did.) Look for big shapes... don't try to put in small shapes. He suggested that we use the brush to design the paintings so it would be "organic". He pulled areas of one shape into the other to integrate them. After the major shapes are established then it's time to start using some smaller brushes to put in hard edges for dramatic effects. He said that colors in the rocks or water look so nice because so much of the rest of the painting was various shades of grays that the eye would go to the dashes of color. If it was all colorful, it would not look good.

Scott always discusses other painters he admires and was mentioning a book by Edgar Payne on composition that is excellent.

Toward the end when you're ready to add accents, it’s important to squint so that you get the values right. They are often darker than they might appear if you don't remember to squint. Scott used relatively large brushes and thick paint for most of his demo. Toward the middle, when defining some edges he used a smaller brush, but at the very end he used a very large brush loaded with paint to make some interesting texture. They eye will go to the texture.

Lunch with Buel and Lyle was delicious and enjoyable. That is one of the perks of a workshop ... getting to know your classmates.

With Scott's kind and patient assistance I did a tolerable little color study and was happy to ride the train home to Cornelia and get in out of the wind and cold.

Once home, I was invited "up" by my neighbors in the rooms above me. Jan (pronounced Yan) and his wife are from Australia and have been traveling around Europe for about six weeks. He is a hiker and he had spent the day walking to Monterosso! He is from Sweden originally and she is from Cyprus, but they met in Australia and live there. They had wonderful wine, cheese and salami of some sort that they had brought from France. It was so nice to sit on their balcony with a beautiful view of the hills of Corniglia and the sea and talk and sip wine.

I found the place where they sold internet access closed for the day so later I went to a tiny local restaurant where I sat with an American couple from Montana and an Italian couple where we enjoyed seafood and pasta delights and more good conversation.. sharing our lives with strangers in mixed Italian and English.

Che bella giornata!